1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to packaging for medical sharps. More particularly, the present invention relates to a one-time use container which allows a user to safely store and dispose of medical sharps.
2. Background Art
The term "medical sharps" is generally defined as medical instruments having a sharp cutting edge or sharp point. In the medical environment, sharps include hypodermic needles, scalpel blades, and the like. Handling of medical sharps is a well known hazard for medical personnel because medical sharps may easily subject medical personnel to cuts, abrasions, puncture wounds or needle sticks when being handled, especially when being removed from their packaging or while being disposed of Disposal procedures can involve a significantly increased risk of cuts or puncture wounds when excessive handling of the medical sharps is required. It is also well known that biomedical hazards, such as exposure to the HIV virus, are associated with the handling of used medical sharps.
Cuts, needle sticks or abrasions may subject medical personnel performing disposal of medical sharps to potentially fatal diseases and possibly an expensive and painful treatment regimen. In addition, hospitals and other care providers face legal exposure and enormous liability for employees who are inadvertently exposed to the above-described hazards which are inherently associated with accidental cuts or puncture wounds.
Accordingly, there is a well-identified need in the health care industry for protective packaging for distributing and disposing of medical sharps. Recognizing the need for safe packaging, several inventors have addressed the problem and offered potential solutions.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,070 to Bascos et al. discloses a one-time resealable package for needled medical devices which utilizes an arrow-shaped portion to seal a used needled medical device inside the dispensing container. While this is a desirable end, the package as taught by Bascos et al. requires the user to excessively manipulate the package in order to reseal it and achieve the stated goal. The package is not simple to use and cannot be opened and closed with only one hand. In addition, the plastic material described by Bascos et al. is, in itself, not strong enough to withstand penetration by a needled medical device.
Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,105 to Conard et al., shows the use of a Styrofoam block for securing medical sharps and other medical instruments as part of the disposal process. This patent also shows the use of an adhesive strip to secure the medical sharps disposal block to the surface of a table or other suitable surface. This device, however, is designed for storing multiple needled medical devices and also requires a separate snap-on lid for securing the needled medical devices inside the container. Using a single device to store multiple needled medical devices presents a continuing danger because the proliferation of needles presents an increased risk of accidental needle sticks from the accumulated needled medical devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,326 to Sandel et al. discloses a container that uses reticulated foam to protect the user from accidentally contacting the tips of needles and other medical instruments. This invention is fairly complex and requires the user to manipulate two body halves in order to open and close the container. In addition, this container is designed to contain multiple medical sharps and is not a viable solution for shipping and ultimately disposing of a single needled medical sharp in its own container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,105 to Withers et al. discloses a medical sharps disposal system that allows for the collection of multiple used needles in a single container. After the container is full, the entire container can be collected with other similar containers and then the containers can be incinerated. Once again, this method is relatively costly and increases the risk of exposure due to maintaining a single receptacle for multiple used needled medical devices.
While the above described devices attempt to address the problem of medical sharps disposal, they lack cost effectiveness, simplicity of manufacture and ease of operation. What is needed, therefore, is a one-time use container for an individual medical sharp that can be used to safely distribute and dispose of medical sharps. Further, the container should be inexpensive and simple to use. The container should be able to be manipulated with one hand in order to facilitate the careful handling of the medical sharp stored within the container, thereby reducing the probability of an accidental cut, puncture wound or needle stick. Finally, the user of the protective container should be able to dispose of the used medical sharp and the container in a standard hospital medical sharps receptacle.